A wide berth: Will Kai Tak's little used cruise terminal catch on enough to justify HK$8 billion cost?
A year after opening, Kai Tak Cruise Terminal remains little used. While operators are upbeat, sceptics wonder if it will catch on enough to justify the investment, writes Darren Wee
When Queen Mary 2, the world's largest ocean liner, called at the newly operational Kai Tak Cruise Terminal in April, more than 2,000 passengers disembarked. Dragging heavy suitcases through the empty, cavernous building, they headed to the taxi ranks outside to catch a ride to their hotels.
Most had to wait two hours for a cab at the end of the old airport runway, and the chaos prompted legislators to question the management of the terminal and its transport links.
Ships come in at 8 in the morning and sail at 8pm. The economic benefits are minimal
At the time, government officials declared it an isolated incident, insisting that the average waiting time for taxis was just between 15 and 30 minutes. But a similar scene unfolded 10 days later when the Celebrity Millennium dropped anchor at the terminal, says tour guide Wouter van Marle.
"It was horrible," he recalls. "There were simply far from enough taxis to fulfil demand - an hour wait is ridiculous.
"While the terminal is in the middle of the city, it's also in the middle of nowhere, so you're totally dependent on the shuttle buses provided by the cruise company and taxis that choose to go there."
Setting its sights on creating "Asia's cruise hub", the govenrment has pumped in HK$8.2 billion to build the two-berth Kai Tak Cruise Terminal. This bill is more than three times officials' initial estimate of HK$2.4 billion in 2006 and HK$1 billion more than the projected figure when it was given the green light in 2008.
